August 29, 2025 • 7 mins
RFK Jr. is cleaning house at the CDC. CDC Director Susan Monarez allegedly had problems working with RFK Jr. Rick and Larry break all this down for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's go to Rick Cline, ABC News Washington Bureau
chief with us with us every Friday at this time.
I'll tell you what I would imagine that Rick Kline
spends a lot of time on the Ascella train. I
know he spends a lot of time at Union Station
and probably spends a lot of time at Penn Station
as well. And Rick Klin joins us. Now, Now, Rick,
(00:25):
I I don't know if you heard about the new
Assella train. I'm sure you have. I guess you travel
a lot right on train on the Northeast corridor. You've
got to be excited about what's happening to Union Station,
what's happening to Penn Station, and with all these new trains.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, look, I think I think train travels great. It's
a convenient way to get around, especially in our part
of the in our part of the country. You know,
it's disappointed that tinu Etela is like something like only
ten minutes faster because it's going on the old tracks
and around around Flower Train. But but no, I would look,
I think it's a good investment in American infrastructure. And
you know, I think you know, the mayor here has
said in DC has said that she welcomes the the
(01:04):
federal takeover viewing station if it means getting a massive
renovation through a faster and you know, she's had a
much more nuanced response about the whole national Art presence
than most Democratic governors and mayors have and said, look,
there are good things about the bad things about it
too in her judgment, paricularly the ice raids and the
ice enforcement going on to the city streets. But if
the city's safer, if the city's cleaner, if the city
(01:25):
is nicer as a result, she's on board. And I
think a lot of folks would would agree with that.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah. And Rick, I know, I commend her for coming
out and saying that that must have been a tough
thing to do as a Democrat, but she did. She said, well,
you can't, you can't argue with facts, right, But it
is amazing to us here at wo R and everybody
we've been talking to today how good Donald Trump is
(01:50):
at changing the topic of getting the media to look
over here when something goes wrong over there.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, And look, it's a nuance and difficult thing because
you know, there are important stories, you know that that
are in other places, and it's important to focus on them.
But when the president state said something, there's a lot
of power that goes through that. And it's not just saying,
but when it's doing. Whatever that's doing is there's a
lot going on in Washington at any even time, you know.
(02:18):
And it took him a couple of weeks to change
this top topic from Epstein. I think it'll be back.
But he is a master at kind of creating new storylines,
and they're not necessarily illegitimate ones at all. If he's
the president acting and you know, National Guard troops on
the streets in DC, it seems like there's going to
be some movement in Chicago next. Those are undeniably stories,
even if they're competing for a limited attention with other
(02:40):
big things.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
No, it's brilliant of them, and I love that he's
doing it, and that makes him the law and order
commander in chief. And so many Democratic strategists are out
there saying, don't fall for the bait, don't don't get
on the other side of this issue, and yet it
does seem like they're being They're putting themselves on the
other side of this issue, and that could be a
(03:02):
big win for Trump and Republicans going into the midterms.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, look, I've heard Trump critics say this. You know,
even when he's you know, really stretching the facts and
going very far, he often has almost always has a
kernel of truth there, and it resonates with people. I
remember when on the eve of the Republican Convention about
a year ago, he insulted the city of Milwaukee, and
everyone said, oh my gosh, he's going to kill himself
in Wisconsin by insulting Milwaukee. Well, guess what, most people
that are a lot of people in Wisconsin. Milwaukee has problems,
(03:28):
just like a lot of New Yorkers think New York
has problems, or a lot of Washington residents Washington has problems.
You know, how do you overrea sort of reaction to it?
Is it an appropriate general response in every case? That's debatable,
but you're right. I think Democrats would be falling into
a trap. And look at what Kevin News is doing
in California. He's acknowledging maybe just places that the National
Guard has to go into his own city.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, Eric Adams just sent a thousand police officers into
the Bronx. So it seems like everybody is me too.
At this point. But it's a smart thing to do.
I'll tell you what. It helps fight crime. Who who cares?
Whose idea was? It certainly seems to work. We haven't
talked too much this morning about what happened with the
CDC and the FED. There was a there was a
walkout yesterday over RFK getting rid of the head of
(04:13):
the FED, right, Oh.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
The head of the head of the CDC. Yeah, so
legal doubt this, legals doubt as to whether the CDC director,
who's just confirmed by the Senate at the Trump's recommendation about
three weeks ago, it's only been a job three weeks
and Trump and RFK wanted her to meet in the job.
Her lawyer is saying she's not actually fired until Trump
says the words, and he hasn't put himself in that
(04:36):
position yet. The White House Press Secretary says it's happened,
of course, Bobby Kennedy says it's happened, but there's still
a legal limbo around that. And yeah, in the meantime,
we've seen resignations and yeah, demonstration to walk out at
the CDC headquarters in Atlanta over these policies. These are
public health professional doctors who say they're being forced into
taking essentially political fans or rejecting science, and they're trying
(04:57):
to do what they can to raise arms around that.
But I think at the end of the day's only
so much she can do. Bobby Kennedy's the AHHS Secretary.
A lot of members of Congress, including senators who confirmed him,
are really concerned about this, But the executive branch has
a lot of power in cases like this, and it's
hard to imagine. If Philip Trump wants her fired, she's
going to be fired. That's not going to be sustainable.
And if there's new policies that the President and the
(05:21):
AHHS Secretary and the new CDC director director want when
it comes to vaccines, that's going to happen. It's just
a matter of time.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, That's why the FED was on my mind because
that's where I wanted to go next. So I'm men
fed When I talked about Lisa Cook, the governor of
the Federal Reserve that has been let go because of
alleged mortgage fraud. The Administration's out there over and over
again as she fights this, saying one thing is she's
(05:47):
never denied it, even in her court filing she doesn't
deny it. So if it is true that she committed
mortgage fraud, are that is that grounds for the president
to get rid.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of her potentially, But right now, she hasn't been charged
with anything, much less, much less convicted of anything. She
hasn't denied because there hasn't been a specific legal allegation yet,
you know, so I think the standard has to be,
you know, has to shift a little bit for that
to be established. But that's the key difference. Now, there's
a there's a difference between the CDC and the FED
(06:20):
because the FED is set up as a quasi independent agency.
It was supposed to be insulated from political pressures and
it's specifically a president can fire a board of governor's
member of the FED, but only four cause, to your point,
mortgage fraud. A conviction might be that cause, sure, but
that hasn't been established. No president even has ever tried
in a hundred years of FED history to to fire
(06:42):
a board of governor for any reason. So you're pushing,
you're pushing along the new buttons here if you're Donald Trump.
But the legal situation is a little bit different. But yeah, look,
if she did something illegal, that that I think would
be likely to be upheld by the court as something
that would that would qualify as quote unquote four.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Cause, Yeah, I don't know, Rick, if I was accused
of something I didn't do, I would get out there
and say no, I didn't do that. But I'm sure
you're going to talk more about that on this week.
What's coming up this week?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, we're going to be talking to Umberson Tom Hammer
from Minnesota with the site of that horrific shooting the
other day, you know, which just kind of brings us
back to the numbing politics of mass shootings and schools.
It's just an absolutely horrific, horrific situation. And I know
Martha Ratis was going to be talking to one of
the CDC officials who resigned in protest earlier this week
(07:32):
about that continuing to fallout. I do think that story
is going to be a really big one.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
To your point earlier, Well, we'll all be watching Rick Klin,
ABC News Washington Bureau Chief with us every Friday at
this time. Thanks a lot, Rick, have a good weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Hey, thanks so much. Thank to you.
Now let's go to Rick Cline, ABC News Washington Bureau
chief with us with us every Friday at this time.
I'll tell you what I would imagine that Rick Kline
spends a lot of time on the Ascella train. I
know he spends a lot of time at Union Station
and probably spends a lot of time at Penn Station
as well. And Rick Klin joins us. Now, Now, Rick,
(00:25):
I I don't know if you heard about the new
Assella train. I'm sure you have. I guess you travel
a lot right on train on the Northeast corridor. You've
got to be excited about what's happening to Union Station,
what's happening to Penn Station, and with all these new trains.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, look, I think I think train travels great. It's
a convenient way to get around, especially in our part
of the in our part of the country. You know,
it's disappointed that tinu Etela is like something like only
ten minutes faster because it's going on the old tracks
and around around Flower Train. But but no, I would look,
I think it's a good investment in American infrastructure. And
you know, I think you know, the mayor here has
said in DC has said that she welcomes the the
(01:04):
federal takeover viewing station if it means getting a massive
renovation through a faster and you know, she's had a
much more nuanced response about the whole national Art presence
than most Democratic governors and mayors have and said, look,
there are good things about the bad things about it
too in her judgment, paricularly the ice raids and the
ice enforcement going on to the city streets. But if
the city's safer, if the city's cleaner, if the city
(01:25):
is nicer as a result, she's on board. And I
think a lot of folks would would agree with that.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah. And Rick, I know, I commend her for coming
out and saying that that must have been a tough
thing to do as a Democrat, but she did. She said, well,
you can't, you can't argue with facts, right, But it
is amazing to us here at wo R and everybody
we've been talking to today how good Donald Trump is
(01:50):
at changing the topic of getting the media to look
over here when something goes wrong over there.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, And look, it's a nuance and difficult thing because
you know, there are important stories, you know that that
are in other places, and it's important to focus on them.
But when the president state said something, there's a lot
of power that goes through that. And it's not just saying,
but when it's doing. Whatever that's doing is there's a
lot going on in Washington at any even time, you know.
(02:18):
And it took him a couple of weeks to change
this top topic from Epstein. I think it'll be back.
But he is a master at kind of creating new storylines,
and they're not necessarily illegitimate ones at all. If he's
the president acting and you know, National Guard troops on
the streets in DC, it seems like there's going to
be some movement in Chicago next. Those are undeniably stories,
even if they're competing for a limited attention with other
(02:40):
big things.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
No, it's brilliant of them, and I love that he's
doing it, and that makes him the law and order
commander in chief. And so many Democratic strategists are out
there saying, don't fall for the bait, don't don't get
on the other side of this issue, and yet it
does seem like they're being They're putting themselves on the
other side of this issue, and that could be a
(03:02):
big win for Trump and Republicans going into the midterms.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, look, I've heard Trump critics say this. You know,
even when he's you know, really stretching the facts and
going very far, he often has almost always has a
kernel of truth there, and it resonates with people. I
remember when on the eve of the Republican Convention about
a year ago, he insulted the city of Milwaukee, and
everyone said, oh my gosh, he's going to kill himself
in Wisconsin by insulting Milwaukee. Well, guess what, most people
that are a lot of people in Wisconsin. Milwaukee has problems,
(03:28):
just like a lot of New Yorkers think New York
has problems, or a lot of Washington residents Washington has problems.
You know, how do you overrea sort of reaction to it?
Is it an appropriate general response in every case? That's debatable,
but you're right. I think Democrats would be falling into
a trap. And look at what Kevin News is doing
in California. He's acknowledging maybe just places that the National
Guard has to go into his own city.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, Eric Adams just sent a thousand police officers into
the Bronx. So it seems like everybody is me too.
At this point. But it's a smart thing to do.
I'll tell you what. It helps fight crime. Who who cares?
Whose idea was? It certainly seems to work. We haven't
talked too much this morning about what happened with the
CDC and the FED. There was a there was a
walkout yesterday over RFK getting rid of the head of
(04:13):
the FED, right, Oh.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
The head of the head of the CDC. Yeah, so
legal doubt this, legals doubt as to whether the CDC director,
who's just confirmed by the Senate at the Trump's recommendation about
three weeks ago, it's only been a job three weeks
and Trump and RFK wanted her to meet in the job.
Her lawyer is saying she's not actually fired until Trump
says the words, and he hasn't put himself in that
(04:36):
position yet. The White House Press Secretary says it's happened,
of course, Bobby Kennedy says it's happened, but there's still
a legal limbo around that. And yeah, in the meantime,
we've seen resignations and yeah, demonstration to walk out at
the CDC headquarters in Atlanta over these policies. These are
public health professional doctors who say they're being forced into
taking essentially political fans or rejecting science, and they're trying
(04:57):
to do what they can to raise arms around that.
But I think at the end of the day's only
so much she can do. Bobby Kennedy's the AHHS Secretary.
A lot of members of Congress, including senators who confirmed him,
are really concerned about this, But the executive branch has
a lot of power in cases like this, and it's
hard to imagine. If Philip Trump wants her fired, she's
going to be fired. That's not going to be sustainable.
And if there's new policies that the President and the
(05:21):
AHHS Secretary and the new CDC director director want when
it comes to vaccines, that's going to happen. It's just
a matter of time.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, That's why the FED was on my mind because
that's where I wanted to go next. So I'm men
fed When I talked about Lisa Cook, the governor of
the Federal Reserve that has been let go because of
alleged mortgage fraud. The Administration's out there over and over
again as she fights this, saying one thing is she's
(05:47):
never denied it, even in her court filing she doesn't
deny it. So if it is true that she committed
mortgage fraud, are that is that grounds for the president
to get rid.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of her potentially, But right now, she hasn't been charged
with anything, much less, much less convicted of anything. She
hasn't denied because there hasn't been a specific legal allegation yet,
you know, so I think the standard has to be,
you know, has to shift a little bit for that
to be established. But that's the key difference. Now, there's
a there's a difference between the CDC and the FED
(06:20):
because the FED is set up as a quasi independent agency.
It was supposed to be insulated from political pressures and
it's specifically a president can fire a board of governor's
member of the FED, but only four cause, to your point,
mortgage fraud. A conviction might be that cause, sure, but
that hasn't been established. No president even has ever tried
in a hundred years of FED history to to fire
(06:42):
a board of governor for any reason. So you're pushing,
you're pushing along the new buttons here if you're Donald Trump.
But the legal situation is a little bit different. But yeah, look,
if she did something illegal, that that I think would
be likely to be upheld by the court as something
that would that would qualify as quote unquote four.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Cause, Yeah, I don't know, Rick, if I was accused
of something I didn't do, I would get out there
and say no, I didn't do that. But I'm sure
you're going to talk more about that on this week.
What's coming up this week?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, we're going to be talking to Umberson Tom Hammer
from Minnesota with the site of that horrific shooting the
other day, you know, which just kind of brings us
back to the numbing politics of mass shootings and schools.
It's just an absolutely horrific, horrific situation. And I know
Martha Ratis was going to be talking to one of
the CDC officials who resigned in protest earlier this week
(07:32):
about that continuing to fallout. I do think that story
is going to be a really big one.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
To your point earlier, Well, we'll all be watching Rick Klin,
ABC News Washington Bureau Chief with us every Friday at
this time. Thanks a lot, Rick, have a good weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Hey, thanks so much. Thank to you.
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